Lakeland College

Muskie softball rolls past Mount Mary, finishes 1-2 at Finlandia tourney

Athletics - posted on 2/22/2013

MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Lakeland College softball team opened its season Friday with a 1-2 record at the Finlandia (Mich.) University Dome Tournament at the Superior Dome on the campus of Northern Michigan University.

The Muskies sandwiched a 17-1 win over Mount Mary College with a pair of tough losses. Lakeland lost 3-2 to NCAA Division II Lake Superior State (Mich.) University in its first game of the day, and finished the day with a 4-1 loss to Finlandia.

The highlight of the day was a five-inning rout of Mount Mary in which Lakeland scored 12 times over the first three innings. Haether Haeflinger (Sr.-Shawano, Wis.) and Hillary Kammerzelt (Sr.-Elkhart Lake, Wis.) both hit home runs, and Kammerzelt finished the day 3-for-4 with six runs batted in.

Allison Bauer (Fr.-Green Bay, Wis.) also was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored, and both Brittany Jurek (Jr.-Gladstone, Mich.) and Ashley Hough (Fr.-Rapid River, Mich.) added three hits apiece. Megan Lawson (Jr.-Marshall, Wis.) also chipped in two hits and drove in a pair of runs.

Alyssa Ciepley (Fr.-Wood Dale, Ill.) and Elizabeth Zimmerman (So.-Shawano, Wis.) combined for the win against the Blue Angels, allowing three hits while striking out five. Ciepley started and got the win, the first of her collegiate career, while Zimmerman pitched the final 1 1/3 innings and retired all four batters she faced.

The Muskies lost a tough game in their opener, as Lake Superior State scored all three of its runs in the fifth inning. Haleigh Edgar hit a two-run triple to put the Lakers ahead and Danielle Reveley added an RBI double to put Lakeland in a 3-1 hole.

Haeflinger hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh to get the Muskies within a run, but Lake Superior State pitcher Felicia Gingrich got the final two outs for the win. Erin Henk (Sr.-Hoopeston, Ill.) took the loss for the Muskies, going the distance and allowing seven hits and three runs while walking two.

Lakeland also took a tough loss in its finale, as Finlandia scored three times in the top of the sixth to break a 1-1 tie. The Muskies had just tied the score in the bottom of the fifth when Haeflinger scored on a fielder's choice ground out by Jenny LaLuzerne (Sr.-Sturgeon Bay, Wis.), but the Lions' first three batters reached in the sixth inning, starting a three-run rally.

Melissa Noll (Fr.-Green Bay, Wis.) took the loss, pitching into the sixth before departing and allowing six hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out seven in her debut.

Haeflinger had two hits against Finlandia and finished the day with five hits over three games to lead Lakeland offensively. Bauer and Hough both added four hits.

The Muskies' next games will be March 10, after the team has arrived in Kissimmee, Fla., on its spring break trip. Lakeland opens in Florida against Wheaton (Mass.) College at 2 p.m. Central time.